Boudica

Queen of the Iceni who led a failed revolt against Rome.

Her name derives from the Proto-Celtic feminine adjective *boudīkā meaning 'victorious'.^[1] The Iceni tribe was led by Boudica, a queen who mounted an unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces in either 60 or 61 AD.^[2]

Last updated 2026-09-28 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Reign: c. 60–61 AD
Predecessor: Prasutagus (King of the Iceni)
Birthplace: Roman Britain, Roman Empire
Died: c. 60/61 AD
Place of death: Britain, Roman Empire
Spouse: Prasutagus
Issue: 2 daughters

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Boudica was the consort of Prasutagus, king of the Iceni, a tribe inhabiting what is now Norfolk and parts of neighbouring counties.^[3] The first target of the rebels was Camulodunum, a Roman colonia for retired soldiers.^[4] Suetonius regrouped his forces and amassed an army of almost 10,000 men at an unidentified location.^[5] The Roman army was outnumbered but Boudica's army was crushed.^[6]

Prasutagus, Boudica's husband, was a client king of Rome who maintained nominal independence, and his will divided his realm between his daughters and the Roman emperor.^[7] A force of 120,000 soldiers was assembled from the Iceni and Trinovantes peoples.^[8]

What the cited sources add

Dio, writing more than a century after her death, provided a detailed description of the Iceni queen, translated in 1925.^[9] Dio described her as very tall, with a most terrifying appearance, a fierce glance, a harsh voice, and a great mass of tawniest hair falling to her hips.^[9] The English linguist Kenneth Jackson concluded that the correct spelling of her name in Common Brittonic is Boudica, pronounced.^[1] The medieval and most common version of the name, Boadicea, appeared when the second 'c' became an 'e' and an 'a' replaced the 'u'.^[10]

William Cowper used the spelling Boadicea in his poem Boadicea, an Ode (1782).^[10] Dio rendered Boudica's name as Buduica, an incorrect spelling, and Tacitus also made an error by inserting an extra 'c'.^[11]

References

Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jackson, "Queen Boudica?", Britannia, 1979, p. 255; Waite, "Boudica's Last Stand: Britain's Revolt Against Rome, A.D. 60–61", The History Press, 2007, p. 22; Webster 1978, p. [https://archive.org/details/boudicabritishre0000webs/page/88/mode/2up 88] (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Emas, "Kekeringan Picu Pemberontakan Besar terhadap Kekuasaan Romawi di Britania", Tinta Emas, 2025-07-28 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Potter, "Boudicca (d. AD 60/61)", 2004; Davies 2008, p. 60 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Webster 1978, p. [https://archive.org/details/boudicabritishre0000webs/page/88/mode/2up 88] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Potter, "Boudicca (d. AD 60/61)", 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tacitus, "The Annals, Book 14" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hingley Unwin 2006, p. [https://archive.org/details/boudicaironagewa0000hing/page/70/mode/2up 71] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Elliott, "Britain", Pen & Sword Books Limited, 2021, p. 92; (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dudley, "The Rebellion of Boudicca", Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962, p. 143; Waite, "Boudica's Last Stand: Britain's Revolt Against Rome, A.D. 60–61", The History Press, 2007, p. 22; Hingley Unwin 2006, p. [https://archive.org/details/boudicaironagewa0000hing/page/70/mode/2up 71] (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Boudica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Waite, "Boudica's Last Stand: Britain's Revolt Against Rome, A.D. 60–61", The History Press, 2007, p. 22 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Boudica (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.